Loving Quinn Novel by North Rose

(Annora, a week later)

“Let me get this straight. You ran into your first love at the fundraiser, and instead of taking him home for some passionate sex, you went home alone?” Shawna asked me as she just stared at me while making coffee in the staff break room of Mercy General’s pediatric wing.

I close my eyes briefly, let out a sigh, then focus back on my best friend. Of course, Shawna would announce that out loud for all to hear. Not that there was anyone else in the room right now, but that had never stopped her. Good grief, why did I tell her anything? Oh, yeah, she is my best friend and will get it out of me eventually.

“First off, Grace was at home. Second, as much as that idea appeals to me, he turned out to

be an a**hole.” I shrug as I remember the Quinn that I met a week ago versus the boy I knew

so long ago.

It was like a night and day change in him. One I don’t think I like. However, considering the

a**le I married, Quinn’s behavior was tame compared to what Kyle has done to me.

“Are you not going to give him a second chance? I mean, he was your knight in shining armor, rescuing you from Kyle like that,” Shawna finished making her coffee and headed to the door.

I followed her out. “How will I even do that? He doesn’t even live in California.” I pause as I look around the nurses’ station we were standing next to.

“Where is everyone?”

“Oh, they all probably headed to the staff meeting early,” Shawn told me.

“What staff meeting?” I ask.

I look at her with a frown on my face. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I check my email. Sure enough, there it was, an email from the hospital’s director, Gayle Jorgen. I open the email, skim through, then turn to Shawna in shock.

“Did you know about this?”

“The meeting? Yes. Why? What is

it about?” She asks me after she takes a sip of her coffee.

“You didn’t read the actual email, did you?” From the look on her face, I can tell that the answer is no. I laugh, that is so like her to just get the jist of the email and not read any further.

“I just read the part about a full hospital staff meeting, then stopped. I figure they will tell us what it is about when we get there,” she tells me with a dismissive shrug of her shoulders.

I shake my head then tell her the news, “The hospital has been sold.”

“What the actual **? When?” Shawna sets her coffee on the counter of the nurses’ station, looking like she was about to blow up with her anger.

“Yesterday. The new owners are here today to explain, set us all at ease, then go over their plans for Mercy General. You should really start reading your emails fully, Shawna,” I tell her with a shake of my head.

Sometimes it is like Shawna is my child rather than my grown adult best friend. She just laughs at me as she turns toward the elevators. I guess we are heading to the large lecture hall the meeting is being held in. Mercy General is a teaching hospital. There were three lecture halls, but the one we are heading to is the only one that will fit all of this morning’s staff. Doctors, nurses, residents, orderlies, and cleaning staff would be crammed into seats and along the walls for this meeting.

Why are we only just now finding out that the hospital was in negotiations with a buyer? Hell, I didn’t know the hospital was even up for sale. How long had this deal been in the works before today’s announcement? Those are questions I will have to ask. I can move my practice outside the hospital if things with the new owners turn sour.

I have been contemplating that idea for the last six months. There is a very nice building that I have in mind for it. All I would need to come to the hospital for would be for consultations with patients who are already hospitalized. Or to do surge: when scheduled. I do that in other hospitals around the county already. I will think about this idea further if this meeting looks like it will lead to a full-on s**t show.

We make it to the meeting with two minutes to spare. There are so many whispered conversations going on around the room as doctors and nurses cluster in groups. No doubt. they are all wondering the same things that went through my head as Shawna and I came down here. How the hell are the new owners going to explain what went down?

Who the hell are G&C Enterprises? Their logo is on a few signs around the room as I look around. Vaguely, the name rings a bell somewhere in my mind.

Then, before I can examine where I have heard the company’s name before, a familiar face

2/6

Chapter 7

steps up on stage with Gayle. A face I haven’t seen in twelve years. What the hell is Aaron Carter doing here in California?

Gayle taps on the microphone to get everyone’s attention, then she waits as the room quiets. down. “As you are all aware from the email that was sent out late last night, Mercy General is now under new ownership. I would like to introduce you all to one of the new owners now,” Gayle lifted a palm up to motion to Aaron as he stepped forward. She steps back to allow him at the microphone.

short and sweet while I

“Hello everyone. I am glad you could all make it, I will make my part short and wait for…. oh, never mind, he is finally here. My name is Aaron Carter, from G&C Enterprises. The man you see coming down the stairs is my partner, Quinn Grayson.”

Oh! Holy ***s**t! My eyes go wide with shock as I watch Quinn walk down the center aisle towards the stage. As if he senses my staring, he stops, looks back over his shoulder directly at me, then gives me a small nod. Why the f***k did he not tell me this s***t a week ago at the fundraiser? Oh yeah, he walked away after I called him out for being an a**hole.

When Quinn reaches the stage, he walks up and stands next to Aaron. “Sorry I was late. I had to deal with a family issue. How is everyone doing this morning?”

Voices from the crowd murmur their hellos, then a silence settles back over the crowd. I can tell they are all just as eager as I am to know what the hell is going on. Quinn and Aaron watch the faces of all those assembled for a few moments more, then Aaron nods to Quinn. to continue. They conveyed something between the two of them in a way they always seemed to do in the past. A part of my mind itches to know what it was, just like it always used to.

It is nice to know that some things stand the test of time. Their friendship was proof that the two of them would follow each other everywhere. That thought make ne smile. The summer we spent together still holds a place in my heart.

“Alright, let’s get down to the nitty gritty of what has transpired behind the scenes of your hospital, Maxwell Davison made a horrible investment that tanked Mercy General’s finances to the brink of bankruptcy.” He paused to look around the room then he continued.

“He wasn’t alone in that investment. He had help from the board of director’s CFO Regina Morgan. Together, they siphoned the remaining funds to offshore accounts in a name they thought no one would link back to them. Then they used some of Howard Davison’s money to invest in a more stable cash flow to recoup the losses.” Quinn explains as he looks out at us all, but I feel like he is staring at me alone.

“We were originally only interested in your veterans’ program, but we did some figures, and offered to buy the entire hospital instead. Our investigation during the negotiations turned up the rest. So, here we all are now,” Aarons speaks up where Quinn left off.

“Where does that leave all of us?” A male’s voice spoke up from the crowd.

A question echoed by others in the room. Followed by ‘Are we getting fired?”, ‘Will the board be replaced?’, and more questions of that line in rapid fire succession, one after the other. Then someone asked what was on my mind. Why were we not informed by the board of directors about the financial crisis?

“I suspect the reason for that was they still had hope to recover. Mercy General is a teaching hospital with a once renowned veterans’ program, all of which has a very high operating cost. One that would have depleted all the finances, then killed this hospital before they could have begged investors to help or reaped the positive benefits of the investments recently made.” Aaron answers.

“As for the board of directors, we have cleaned house completely and will replace each member with new ones that we have already interviewed. They will join the team here within the next week,” Quinn responded to another question.

“Your jobs are all safe. Please do not worry about that. Gayle here is staying on as director and will answer questions you may have,” Aaron gave the answer to the one question I know most of the doctors, nurses, and orderlies really wanted to know. Would they need to look for work at another hospital or not?

The tension in the room immediately dissipates. A collective sigh goes through the room, then indistinct murmurs fill the room as colleagues reassured each other. The overall mood in the room is lighter now that it was when we all first arrived. I look at my watch, curse low under my breath, then head for the door.

I have a consultation with a patient in twenty minutes. I am stopped in the hall by a deep rumbling voice from behind me, making me turn around to glare at him. What does he want now? I let out a sigh because I know I am being unfair to him, but I can’t seem to help myself.

“I didn’t know you were on staff here until we finalized the deal. I handled things badly with you and I hope you can forgive me,” Quinn says. The look in his sea-green eyes is apologetic and sincere.

“You call dismissing your date the way you did handling things badly?” I asked him, surprised.

“Yes, I do, I made it up to Rebecca after you stormed off. I dropped her at her house with a smile on her face a few hours later,” Quinn replies.

Oh, well, if that isn’t a clear enough statement that he slept with his date that night, I don’t know what is. What happened to this man? What happened to that fun loving, sweet- natured, larger-than-life boy from all those years ago? The one who melted my heart with just a look. What happened to him during his time in the Army? One thing that I know for certain is I want nothing to do with the man he has become now.

“Well, I am happy that you and your date had a good evening. Now, I am late for a consultation with a very sick little girl,” I tell him. I turn around to walk away from him, but he grabs my arm to pull me back to him. I flinch at the way he grabs me. He notices instantly and drops his hand.

“I am sorry. I will leave you be, but maybe we can have lunch later today or the next time you are free.” Quinn asks me as he steps away from me.

The pained look in his eyes makes me blink back sudden tears. There in his eyes, I finally saw that boy I knew. That Quinn would never hurt me. It makes me happy to know that the boy he used to be is still somewhere inside him. My heart wants to give him the chance to prove to me he isn’t the a***hole from a week ago. My mind knows that there is a minefield of issues that will be uncovered if I spend time with Quinn.

I will have to tell him about Grace, yet I am not ready to open that door to the past. Will he be angry with me for keeping her from him? I would be if I were him. This is something I

need to prepare for. I need to talk to Grace first. Holy hell, that is going to be a nightmare.

I look up

at Quinn to see his sea-green eyes almost pleading with me to say yes. That f**g look makes my heart melt despite my brain screaming at me to walk away right now. “Look, I have work to do, but I will call you when I have a free lunch h***

“Why do I have the feeling that this is going to turn into the brush off I deserve after how I treated Rebecca last night?” Quinn asks me with a frown on his face now.

“Honestly, you do in fact deserve something like that, but that wasn’t what I was doing.” I tell him as I turn to walk away again.

“Annora,” Quinn calls to me after I have taken a few steps away.

I stop walking to turn to look back at him. He walks to me, his hand coming out of his pocket as he does. Instincts on high alert from being married to Kyle. The wariness in my eyes makes Quinn shake his head as he comes to a stop in front of me again.

“Hold out your hand, palm up for me, please,” Quinn asks me.

Hesitantly, I do as he asks. He places his hand on my, his thumb sliding over in the my wrist same way he used to do. My heart flutters in my chest as he stares into my eyes. My goodness, the feelings he brings out in me now are the same as they were twelve years ago. I unconsciously take a step closer to him, but to my surprise, Quinn steps back..

“I held a part of you with me all this time, hoping to one day find you again. I have found you and I will wait for as long as you need to decide. You are worth waiting for, Annora.” Quinn leaned in, placed a kiss on my cheek, then walked down the hall.

What the hell am I to do with that? I look down at my open palm and the tears I felt earlier slip free. There, in the palm of my hand, rests the St. Michael’s medal I gave Quinn the night before I left him behind. The night Grace was conceived. He kept it all these years. My heart broke the day I drove away from him with my family.

He kept it with him.